1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optimizing the operating conditions and/or properties in a process and/or composition entailing k variables, or parameters x, affecting p properties Y.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The various industrial processes include a large number of variables, notably the compositional profiles of the starting materials and/or the characteristic operating conditions, or process parameters, designed to provide the intended results.
Typically, a primary or predominant feature of the process is sought to be identified and then the best combination of variables is sought to be determined in order to optimize the desired final results. Obviously, the situation is rendered increasingly complex by an increasing number of variables, if the number of properties sought to be optimized also increases. If one should attempt to spatially correlate the variables in order to evaluate their effect on a plurality of properties, even with the use of information or data processing, the amount of computing time increases exponentially, rendering the analysis impossible. For example, to provide a degree of precision of 10.sup.-3 over the range of variation using a microprocessor, the computing rate of which is 5/100 of a second per point calculated, it is found that for a complete computation involving 4 variables, 10.sup.12 elementary calculations must be made (1,000 levels for each variable, then a combination of all possible levels of all of the variables), which translates into 1,600 years of microprocessor operation.